Product Description

It's 2040 and the economic pyramid has flipped; the feeble old now outnumber the vigorous young. Seeking to revive her career by investigating this crisis, reporter Julia Davidson is plagued by nightmares about her absent father and becomes a pawn in an ominous conspiracy. Fatherless vivdly imagines a future in which present-day trends come to sinister fruition.

Publisher's Description

The year is 2042, and the long-predicted tipping point has arrived. For the first time in human history, the economic pyramid has flipped: The feeble old now outnumber the vigorous young, and this untenable situation is intensifying a battle between competing cultural agendas. Reporter Julia Davidson-a formerly award-winning journalist seeking to revive a flagging career-is investigating the growing crisis, unaware that her activity makes her a pawn in an ominous conspiracy. Plagued by nightmares about her absent father, Julia finds herself drawn to the quiet strength of a man she meets at a friend's church. As the engrossing plot of FATHERLESS unfolds, Julia faces choices that pit professional success against personal survival in an increasingly uncertain and dangerous world. FATHERLESS vividly imagines a future in which present-day trends come to sinister fruition.

Author Bio

Dr. James Dobson is the Founder and President of Family Talk, a nonprofit organization that produces his radio program, "Family Talk with Dr. James Dobson." He is the author of more than 30 books dedicated to the preservation of the family. He has been active in governmental affairs and has advised three U.S. presidents on family matters. Dr. Dobson is married to Shirley and they have two grown children, Danae and Ryan, and two grandchildren. The Dobsons reside in Colorado Springs, CO.

Kurt Bruner serves as Pastor of Spiritual Formation at Lake Pointe Church and on the adjunct faculty of Dallas Theological Seminary. A graduate of Talbot Seminary and former Vice President with Focus on the Family, Kurt led the teams creating films, magazines, books, and radio drama. As President of HomePointe Inc., he helps local church leaders create an ongoing culture of intentional families. Kurt is the best-selling author of more than a dozen books. Kurt and his wife, Olivia, live in Rockwall, Texas.

Editorial Reviews

"Dobson and Bruner have written a thought-provoking read...this fast-paced thriller will find an audience with fans of Ted Dekker's suspense novels."Library Journal

Dr. James Dobson and Kurt Bruner in their new book, "Fatherless" Book One in the Fatherless series published by FaithWords brings us into the lives of Kevin Tolbert and Julia Davidson.

From the back cover: The year is 2042, and the long-predicted tipping point has arrived. For the first time in human history, the economic pyramid has flipped: The feeble old now outnumber the vigorous young, and this untenable situation is intensifying a battle between competing cultural agendas. Reporter Julia Davidson-a formerly award-winning journalist seeking to revive a flagging career-is investigating the growing crisis, unaware that her activity makes her a pawn in an ominous conspiracy.

Plagued by nightmares about her absent father, Julia finds herself drawn to the quiet strength of a man she meets at a friend's church. As the engrossing plot of FATHERLESS unfolds, Julia faces choices that pit professional success against personal survival in an increasingly uncertain and dangerous world.

FATHERLESS vividly imagines a future in which present-day trends come to sinister fruition.

Welcome to the future and a horrific future is what is has turned into. There are not enough young people to sustain the overabundance of elderly and this is causing a great drain on the economy. To combat this the government offers the elderly a chance to voluntarily commit suicide and pass their inheritance over to the young. Tolbert is the senator that wants to change things, Julia is the reporter assigned to help bring him down. The authors are exploring what the trend is to the view of the elderly and their needs and it is, indeed, frightening. They also explore the impact on society when the father is absent from the home. Add to this disturbing view is the role of government on society. This is social commentary all wrapped up in a fiction thriller. Make no doubt about this the lives of practically everyone are in very great danger and it gets progressively worse as the story unfolds. Danger, action and adventure are all rolled up in a very exciting read. These are wonderful characters that live and breathe on the pages and you care deeply for them. This book does not disappoint at all. I enjoyed it and I am so looking forward to the next book in this series.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from FaithWords. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

A friend of mine recently informed me she wants to have a child. She's not religious, but her parents are devout Catholics. They have an opinion on the matter. Actually, two opinions.

First, they want their daughter to find a partner (husband to use their word) before becoming a mom - something less than 25% of women do for good reasons I've covered in earlier columns. (Why do religious fundamentalists criticize our generation for avoiding parenthood yet complain when single women choose motherhood?)

Second, my friend's parents disapprove of a practice that has become standard medical procedure, even among heterosexual domestic partners. In vitro selection (IVS) brings enormous benefits to parents, children and society. But they've cautioned their daughter against 'engineering her child" by vetting common genetic imperfections. They believe IVS puts humans in place of God and fear we have become "picky shoppers" rather than "grateful recipients" when it comes to the "gift of life."

Caving to parental pressure, my friend postponed her selection appointment. I suppose I should celebrate the decision. One fewer carbon footprint polluting the planet. But I hate to see her give up something she wants just because her parents view technology as a moral bogeyman.

These are the facts. Eight out of ten women who wish to have a child use in vitro selection, otherwise known as common sense. In our day and age, why would anyone risk giving birth to children with costly health challenges? Women no longer have to fear receiving bad news after the birth of a child due to unforeseen disabilities and complications. Only children born to parents who opt out of the genetic vetting process risk the heartache, burden and expenses associated with the most common disabilities and age-related illness. Those expenses, by the way, will end up hitting federal and state budgets as "faith children" survive their well-intentioned but misguided parents. You and I will inherit costly care and medical obligations associated with our aging parents and grandparents.

If my friend decides to have a child, I hope she will give the baby the freedom to thrive by eliminating the risk of unnecessary disease and disability. I only wish we could give the same freedom to those of us already burdened by both." (excerpt pg 81-82.)

It's the year 2042 and while the world struggles to come to terms with a failing economy in every country, they notice that this is the first time the scale are tipping downward. This is the first time that senior citizens outnumber the younger generation. This places a burden on not having enough productive hands necessary to maintain the standards of productivity while the high cost of caring for seniors is skyrocketing. The only solution is to provide transition services to those who have become more of a debit than an asset to their families and society. They can opt out of life through volunteering to transition and leave their wealth behind to their families. But surely something like this is only for fictional novels right? Or is it?

Best selling author and speaker of Family Talk, Dr. James Dobson has teamed up with Kurt Bruner to write the novel Fatherless, which was inspired by the foretelling of the ominous trends discussed in this novel by the late Chuck Colson. They use this information to write a very chilling story of what could happen when the very old outnumber the very young. With a decline in marriage and parenthood fueling an unprecedented drop in fertility, then the growth in global population will soon end, then reverse. We are already seeing this happen in places like Japan and Russia. Just what importance is there in a world where growing up with the protective love of a father becomes the exception rather than the norm? I think these two brilliant authors have given us a taste of what may lie ahead of us in the future if we continue this pattern.

I received Fatherless by Dr. James Dobson and Kurt Bruner compliments of Faith Words, a division of Hachette Book Groups for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions expressed here are my own unless otherwise noted. While this is a fictional based novel, we are seeing more approval for physician assisted suicides among the terminally ill or aging that simply want a way out rather than liquidating all their financial assets. What happens then when people stop having children or opt to avoid getting married when they can have a baby in a lab and thus move on with life without the benefits of the family unit. Through a variety of characters this is the premise of Fatherless. This is the first book in the series with Childless and Godless being added to the series. Just the opening and closing stories alone are chilling in their future implications. I easily give this a 5 out of 5 stars for every single person to read, especially believers who know the truth that comes when light is revealed in dark places.

I have very much appreciated the writings of Dr. Dobson and Kurt Bruner in the past, but I realized those books were all nonfiction. In "Fatherless", these authors seem to have a struggle telling what could be a compelling fictional story about a disabled life being not precious, but throwaway. The writing is a bit plodding and the scenes do not connect well. I do desire for readers to be able to wade through the style and come away with a statement underscoring that all life is God-given. I hope the rest of the series is a little more engaging.

It had been a while since I had read a book for fun and this was just the right thing for me to read. I just finished the second book "Childless" today and hate that I'm going to have to wait until this summer to read "Godless" the next book. These books were so good! If you're looking for a book that you won't want to put down, this is it!